Foreman fined RM3,000 for molesting woman he met after accident

KUALA LUMPUR: A foreman was fined RM3,000 in default three months’ jail by the Magistrate’s Court here today for molesting a woman he met after an accident in March this year.

Magistrate Wong Chai Sai imposed the fine on P Naveendran, 39, after he pleaded guilty to the charge.

Naveendran was accused of outraging the modesty of a 22-year-old woman after their cars collided along the Federal Highway near Brickfields at 3pm on March 26.

According to the facts of the case, the accused was speaking to the victim when he suddenly grabbed her hips and shoulder without the victim’s consent.

The accused also told passers-by who wanted to help the victim that he was her boyfriend even though the victim did not know the accused.

He was charged under Section 354 of Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to 10 years, or with fine or with whipping or with any two of such punishments upon conviction.

Earlier, deputy public prosecutor Wan Ahmad Hakim Wan Ahmad Jaafar pressed for a jail sentence as the incident had caused trauma and fear to the victim while the accused who was unrepresented asked for a lenient sentence.

Wong decided to impose a fine instead of jail time on the accused, as this was his first offence and the act did not involve sensitive parts of the body.